Futurity.org » Stony Brook University

Lyme disease vaccine trials show promise

James Montalto-Stony Brook — Mon, 13 May 2013 19:58:42 +0000

STONY BROOK (US) — Clinical trials of a new vaccine for Lyme disease reveal strong immune response in 300 individuals with little adverse reaction.

The results of a phase 1/2 clinical trial in Europe of an investigational Lyme disease vaccine shows to be promising and well tolerated, according to a research paper published online in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.

Ape pelvis fills gap in evolution puzzle

Christian Basi-Missouri — Thu, 02 May 2013 16:22:07 +0000

U. MISSOURI (US) — Experts say the pelvis from an 11.9 million-year-old ape skeleton suggests the primate probably lived near the beginning of the great ape evolution.

Researchers who unearthed the fossil specimen of the ape skeleton in Spain in 2002 assigned it a new genus and species, Pierolapithecus catalaunicus. They argued that it could be the last common ancestor of modern great apes: chimpanzees, orangutans, bonobos, gorillas, and humans.

Ashley Hammond, a Life Sciences Fellow in the department of pathology and anatomical sciences at the University of Missouri, used a tabletop laser scanner attached to a turntable to capture detailed surface images of the fossil, which provided her with a 3D model to compare the Pierolapithecus pelvis anatomy to living species.

Are planets made of ‘totally unexpected’ stuff?

Gregory Filiano-Stony Brook — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 17:30:09 +0000

STONY BROOK (US) — Researchers have made a surprising prediction about one of the main materials inside planets.

They calculate that magnesium oxide (MgO) can exist in several different compositions. The predicted compounds would be radically different from traditionally known or expected materials.

Are those tiny gold particles bad for you?

James Montalto-Stony Brook — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 15:07:36 +0000

STONY BROOK (US) — Pure gold nanoparticles found in everyday items such as personal care products can inhibit fat storage, slow wound healing, and accelerate wrinkling.

Gold nanoparticles are also used for drug delivery, as MRI contrast agents, and in solar cells.

‘Freezer burn’ method numbs painful nerves

James Montalto-Stony Brook — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 16:45:45 +0000

STONY BROOK (US) — A new technique involving tiny balls of ice can safely short circuit chronic pain caused by nerve damage, according to new research.

For the millions of Americans who rely on pain medications for neuralgia, a condition where nerves damaged by surgery, traumatic injury, or diseases such as diabetes cause chronic pain, an emerging non-pharmacological treatment may offer relief.

The method involves placing a tiny ball of ice on damaged nerves by way of a minimally invasive interventional radiology treatment called cryoneurolysis.

Volcano event lines up with pre-dino die-offs

Kevin Krajick-Columbia — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 16:18:36 +0000

COLUMBIA U. (US) — New evidence from around the world links the abrupt disappearance of half of Earth’s species 200 million years ago to a precisely dated set of gigantic volcanic eruptions.

The eruptions may have caused climate changes so sudden that many creatures were unable to adapt—possibly on a pace similar to that of human-influenced climate warming today.

To heal heart, treat depression, too

Wilson Valentin-Columbia — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 20:25:14 +0000

COLUMBIA U. (US) —Treating people for depression after a heart attack could reduce the risk of death or another attack, new research shows.

Researchers completed a randomized controlled trial with 150 patients with elevated depressive symptoms two to six months after hospitalization for heart disease.

15 minutes of fame may last a lifetime

James Montalto-Stony Brook — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 15:53:53 +0000

STONY BROOK (US) — Celebrity status may seem like an unending revolving door, but a new study finds fame isn’t so fleeting after all.

Researchers studied the names mentioned in approximately 2,200 US daily newspapers, weeklies, and more infrequent periodicals over a period of several decades using Lydia, a research project in natural language processing (NLP) that reduces text streams to time-series data on the news volume associated with each news entity and their juxtapositions in sentences, articles, and newspapers with other news entities.

Fukushima radiation reveals tuna’s journey

Bjorn Carey-Stanford — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 16:01:52 +0000

STANFORD (US) — Pacific bluefin tuna are picking up radioactive cesium released in Japan’s 2011 nuclear disaster, allowing scientists to determine the fish’s migratory habits by testing for this radioactive signature.

Last May, scientists reported that 15 Pacific bluefin tuna caught in California in the months after the disaster at Japan’s Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in 2011 contained trace amounts of radiation. It was the first evidence of migrating animals transporting radioactive materials across the ocean, and the researchers suggested it could provide a means for tracking the fish’s annual migrations.

Now, nearly two years after the plant discharged radioactive materials into the ocean, follow-up research finds that young Pacific bluefin tuna are still arriving in California carrying two of Fukushima’s signature radioisotopes, cesium-134 and cesium-137.

Female lemurs outlive males with ‘itchy feet’

James Montalto-Stony Brook — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 18:16:24 +0000

STONY BROOK / U. ARIZONA (US) — Both male and female lemurs stray from the safety of the group, but the females eventually settle down—perhaps a clue to why they tend to outlive the males, researchers say.

Sex differences in aggression, hormones, or appearance drive males of many species to an earlier grave. But in the Milne-Edwards’ sifaka, males and females have similar levels of testosterone, and are equally likely to pick fights.